Letter: Fast food economics

By Jim Senner, New Bern

Published: Monday, April 29, 2013 at 12:41 PM.

The Sun Journal has done the public a service by exposing confused thinking in three diatribes from local sage Calvert Weatherly. He seems to have a personal ax to grind against fast food restaurants. As a bachelor, he admits to regularly eating at McDonald’s and enjoying its food but then lashes out at its “greedy” management for not providing their low skill-workers with high wages, vacation pay, sick pay, profit sharing, “kick-backs” or health insurance. Apparently, past Econ 101 arguments were lost on him but I’ll try once more: If labor-intensive fast food restaurants provided their low skilled workers with all the benefits which you demand, you couldn’t afford to buy their burgers. Benefits like these cost money, probably enough to effectively double their cost of doing business. The profit margins which these restaurants operate on are fairly slim and they would probably have to double the cost of their product if their costs rose this dramatically. Having visited McDonald’s restaurants in several countries in
Europe
, I can confirm that the price of a Big Mac there was about double what I was used to paying here. In Europe it is almost impossible to find a decent meal for under $10, but I can feed myself for about $5 at dozens of places in
New Bern
. I would add that the youth unemployment rate the socialist paradises in Europe averages 25 percent because socialist legislation there dictates what entrepreneurs can do on hiring and firing. In
Spain
the youth unemployment rate is a staggering 60 percent. Once hired with inflated wages and benefits, employees in most of
Europe
cannot be fired short of committing a serious crime. If laid off, they continue to draw full salary indefinitely. Calvert, if you won the lottery and had about half a million dollars to invest, would you open a fast food restaurant under those conditions? I think not.

Jim Senner,
New Bern

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The Sun Journal has done the public a service by exposing confused thinking in three diatribes from local sage Calvert Weatherly. He seems to have a personal ax to grind against fast food restaurants. As a bachelor, he admits to regularly eating at McDonald’s and enjoying its food but then lashes out at its “greedy” management for not providing their low skill-workers with high wages, vacation pay, sick pay, profit sharing, “kick-backs” or health insurance. Apparently, past Econ 101 arguments were lost on him but I’ll try once more: If labor-intensive fast food restaurants provided their low skilled workers with all the benefits which you demand, you couldn’t afford to buy their burgers. Benefits like these cost money, probably enough to effectively double their cost of doing business. The profit margins which these restaurants operate on are fairly slim and they would probably have to double the cost of their product if their costs rose this dramatically. Having visited McDonald’s restaurants in several countries in Europe, I can confirm that the price of a Big Mac there was about double what I was used to paying here. In Europe it is almost impossible to find a decent meal for under $10, but I can feed myself for about $5 at dozens of places in New Bern. I would add that the youth unemployment rate the socialist paradises in Europe averages 25 percent because socialist legislation there dictates what entrepreneurs can do on hiring and firing. In Spain the youth unemployment rate is a staggering 60 percent. Once hired with inflated wages and benefits, employees in most of Europe cannot be fired short of committing a serious crime. If laid off, they continue to draw full salary indefinitely. Calvert, if you won the lottery and had about half a million dollars to invest, would you open a fast food restaurant under those conditions? I think not.